Instructional Games



Scenario


1. Discuss the use of sociometric techniques to assess social skills and related problems. How can Miss Erney use information from a sociogram to help Jeff?

Sociometric techniques are used to help the classroom teacher better understand the structure of her class and who works well with who. Using sociometric techniques allows the teacher to understand the needs of her classroom and pair students based on their preferences along with organizing groups so everyone is with their best fit. Miss Erney can use the information for a sociogram to help Jeff find a partner that he can work well with in certain situations. This sociorgram can also help Miss Erney better understand which students would like to work with Jeff and which students would only make the situation and Jeff's behavior.


2. Discuss the use of social skills training to reduce Jeff’s inappropriate social behaviors. Include the use of direct instruction to increase Jeff’s interpersonal social skills.
Social skills training is a technique used to manipulate an antecedent and consequent events associated with the target social behavior. This type of training can be used to reduce Jeff's inappropriate social behaviors by placing him in situations where he has to repeatedly use appropriate behaviors rather than inappropriate. Using direct instruction with Jeff would be a good idea. Direct instruction includes 4 different parts including: description, modeling, rehearsal, and feedback. Jeff acts like he doesn't want to change his behavior but when he realizes the benefits of appropriate behavior versus his already inappropriate behavior change will take place. Jeff needs the repetition and direct instruction on changing his behaviors in order for it to make a difference in his social life.

3. Describe three social development activities that may help Jeff with his social problems. Predict some of the possible outcomes of each activity.
  • Peer Teaching:I think allowing Jeff to peer teach would help him with his social problems. Allowing him to interact with someone based on a topic that he is knowledgeable about would help to improve his confidence. It would also give him social interactions that he wouldn't normally get with children his age because of his social behavior issues. I could see this activity going one of two ways. Very well and improving his ability to work with others and better communicate or poorly only making his ability to work with others, communicate, and interact socially worse.
  • Modeling Techniques: I think that modeling appropriate behavior if done in the correct manor could be very helpful for Jeff. However, if used in an ineffective way could only cause him to rebel against the activity hindering his progress.
  • Paying attention to the victim: I think a lot of students act out and have social issues because they don't know how to act with others and because they are seeking attention themselves. Using this activity I think would teach Jeff that using appropriate behavior is not only going to get him positive attention but get him more interaction and social acceptance from his peers.
4. Instructional games promote positive peer relations and enable the teacher to work on specific social behaviors. Create a game that Miss Erney can use to help promote Jeff’s social development.
Games are a great way to get students interested, involved, and motivated to learn concepts they might not normally be interested in.
Social Charades
As the teacher you will put together multiple scenarios and situations that require students to act our certain social behaviors. If the social behavior is acceptable then the students write down that but if the behavior is an unacceptable one then students will need to write an appropriate way to respond to that situation and a better way the situation could have been handled. As the teacher you want to create scenarios that you see every day from your students and in this case Jeff. This will help him see how inappropriate his behaviors are not only to you but his peers as well.
5. Discuss the use of life-space interviewing and reality therapy as two interventions to manage Jeff’s behavior and promote his emotional development.
Life-space interviewing is a technique that allows students to manage and work out a classroom crisis or everyday problem independently. This technique requires the teacher to listen and not interject without judgment. I think this would be a good technique to help Jeff handle his behavior issues because in his case I think he sometimes feels defeated before the situation is even talked about. I think the appraoch of reality therapy would also help Jeff because it would give him appropriate ways to respond to situations that he normally does not respond well to. It would help him realize the consequences of irresponsible behavior and that no excuses are accepted.